KINGSTON – A man, who faced two convictions on drug charges, will be sentenced in October for a second time after the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court reversed his initial conviction based on ineffective legal representation at trial.
Leon Smith pled guilty before Judge Donald Williams on Tuesday to a felony charge of criminal sale of a controlled substance. He was first charged with criminal sale in November 2013 and taking into account his criminal history, Smith was offered a sentence of eight years in prison and three years of post-release supervision in return for a plea. He rejected that and when his case went to trial, he was convicted on two counts of criminal sale and sent to prison for 10 years.
This past April, the higher court reversed the conviction and sent it back to county court.
Smith will be sentenced on October 27.
